I LOST ALL TO FIND ALL
(The Joe Winterman Story)

 

Hello, my name is Joe Winterman.  I would like to share with you a little bit about my life - where I've been and where I am now, which is only by the grace of God.  It is only by His grace that I am even alive to share this with you, and I pray that as you read, if there is anything that you can personally relate to for your own life, that you won't ignore it.  You owe it to yourself to find out what this is all about, this new life I will be sharing with you about.  I pray that you will do that and that you will find the answers to life that you may be searching for.  Please read on as I share...

I was born in Lima, OH in 1954,  I grew up in Wapakoneta, OH where I lived until after graduation in 1973.  Since '73 I have lived in Florida (Daytona Beach first), then in '74 I started going to a Christian ministry in Ft. Lauderdale where I spent the next five years training for the ministry.  I was not altogether successful, however, because when the ministry that I was involved with failed, I returned to a lifestyle of drugs, now adding violence and a lawlessness to my character as well.

The years in Ft. Lauderdale were not completely wasted.  I met a man, Gene Sullivan,  in our ministry who was Evel Knievel's first bodyguard back in the early 70's.  Neither one of us knew that we would ever see each other again after Ft. Lauderdale, but I am here to tell you that Jesus reveals His Kingdom to those who truly repent of their old lifestyle and want to live a new life.  While I was getting drunk, stoned, and wasting away my life for the next ten years, (1980-1990), God had not abandoned me, and He had a plan for Gene and I to meet up down the road!

During the years of 1978-1990, I got a job with American Express and I transferred from Ft. Lauderdale to Phoenix, AZ working in their large main frame computers and international networking systems.  I met a girl in college during this time and got her pregnant.  We were married in 1986.  I was not happy, although the money was good; I had seniority in the company.  I worked a three-day weekend shift and I was off four days a week, so I spent a lot of time alone in the desert.  I owned a nice house, had some money saved up and a family.  I was offered a job in Germany, with full expenses paid, a great salary, and a management position.  But I had touched something in Ft. Lauderdale that I couldn't drink or smoke away.

We moved to Germany, but before I left, through some very strange circumstances, I met up with Gene Sullivan again, the guy who was Evel Knievel's bodyguard.  He prayed for me and I stopped smoking, drinking, fighting, doing drugs, and other lawless activities.  I stayed in Germany for a few years, and returned to the U.S in late 1992.  I had completed my duty to the German corporation called Amadeus, a conjunction of Lufthansa, Iberia, Air France, and Sas Airlines.  My job was to assist in establishing an online computer reservation system for them, in the role of an online systems supervisor.  I acted as a project analyst throughout the test phase, with a three-year open-ended contract to support an online environment.

By now you may be asking yourself, how had I attained all this?  It was not being a college graduate or a roll model for good behavior.  The answer is that I sought for a living God who was able to help me out of my self-made prison of drug addiction and lawlessness.  And when I prayed, He spoke to me inside myself.  It was not an audible voice, but an interruption in my thoughts.  A voice inside me that said "find Gene Sullivan and have him pray for you...he stands good with Me.  The Bible says that the fervent prayer of the righteous man accomplishes much.  When that man prayed for me, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he was a man who had a personal relationship with Jesus that I did not have but sorely needed.  I could have stayed in Germany, but Gene and several people from the church came to visit me--they even flew my friend and I back to Colorado to go elk hunting with them one year, all expenses paid.

I realized that the temptations of success were greater than what I was able to handle.  I was wearing nice suits to work, driving a classic Mercedes, and the women in Europe are a lot less moral than American women.  Besides all of this, I found a friendship with Gene and the folks at his church that was rare.  Not only were they people that you could depend on, but what they said made sense, and they lived their lives according to how Christians are supposed to act.  So we packed up and I walked away from a computer career of 16 years.  I got myself a value adjustment.  All that stuff -- the nice house, traveling, money, and respected name, meant nothing.

We moved to Wyoming and stayed there for several months, and then we moved to Hawaii, where we were starting up a new church.  This was in 1993.  I went from a high paying prestigious job to making $6.00 per hour part time.  I ended up working in a department store (hardware and automotive) with a boss who thought that I was a thief.  I was over qualified for everything except for government and military computer jobs which were all sowed up.  I never had to look for a job before moving to Hawaii.  They were always handed to me.  Now it was time to eat humble pie.  

After six months of working at the store, a guy in our church went into partnership with me and taught me how to scuba dive.  We started a commercial tropical fish business.  The business failed, however, (though it had the makings of great profit) because we both had a problem with being lawless, even though we were in a position of church leadership.  God does not look lightly at church leaders who are not living uprightly, and the business went bankrupt.  My partner went to the south Pacific and started up the fish business again.  I went into full time ministry and left Hawaii in 1995 to return to the main church body located in Billings, Montana.

Since then I have been taking a look at my root sins from many years of past problems that I had when I was young, playing in rock bands for the local dances and in general, making a fool out of myself.  I have seen that my life has been the testimony of someone who took what he wanted by whatever means was available, but not one who expected to receive anything from the Lord, or even asked God for anything because I was such a rebel, and was tormented with rejection.

I am now working full time in the ministry.  I take no salary...I have no fancy cars or suits.  My wife and I divorced seeing that she loved and wanted the ways that worldly living has to offer.  My daughter is with me.  My work is now to travel wherever our evangelistic ministry is requested to come.  

As I was saying earlier, Gene Sullivan, Evel's first bodyguard, left Ft. Lauderdale in 1978 and started jumping motorcycles over cars through a burning wall of fire to demonstrate to people that the obstacles of life can be "jumped over" and cleared...that the wall of fire which is symbolic of hell, awaits all of us at the end of our lives, but can be broken through by accepting Jesus as the Lord and Savior of our lives.  I personally have found no worthier cause in which to invest my life than to be able to share the life that Jesus has invested in me these years, with others through the Jump for Jesus Ministry. 

The writer in the book of the Bible called Ecclesiastes which many people ascribe to being written by King Solomon, said it like this, "Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all is vanity."

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments for this is the whole duty of man.  For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."

Thank you and God bless you for taking the time to read my life story!  If you have any questions or would like to request prayer, please contact Precious Testimonies on the mail link below, and they will respond to your request.

Joe Winterman

Dear Reader - are you at peace with God?  If not, you can be.  Do you know what awaits you when you die?  You can have the assurance from the Holy Spirit that heaven will be your home, if you would like to be certain.  Either Jesus Christ died for yours sins, or He didn't (He did!).  Are you prepared to stand before God on the Judgment Day and tell Him that you didn't need the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross to cover your sins?  We plead with you ... please don't make such a tragic mistake.

To be at peace with God; to make certain heaven will be your home for eternity; to make certain that you are in right-standing with God right now ... please click here to help understand the importance of being reconciled to God.  What you do about being reconciled to God will determine where you will spend eternity, precious one.  Your decision to be reconciled to God is the most important decision you'll ever make in this life.